The invention relates to a radiant cooking unit comprising at least one electrical heating element arranged on a heating element carrier and including a ring-shaped bordering element surrounding the latter at least partly.
Usual cooktop units of this kind consist of a sheet-metal bowl on the underside of which a glass ceramic plate is arranged or carrying the latter itself and in which the individual radiant cooking positions are arranged, these themselves featuring a sheet-metal carrier dish in which the heating elements are applied to the heat insulation material. Each individual radiant heater is pressed against the underside of the glass ceramic plate by spring retaining parts engegaing the carrier dish (cf. DE 27 60 339 C2 and DE 36 13 902 A1).
Also known already are radiant heaters which comprise several heating zones within a cooking position which can be selectively switched ON/OFF to alter the shape and size of the cooking position (cf. DE 29 43 477 C2). From DE 27 60 339 C2 it is further known to dispose rings on the insulation located in a carrying plate which define several heating fields of a multi-unit cooker provided with heating conductors. The concept of such cooktop units hitherto has always been based on the radiant heaters forming the cooking positions being individual units manufactured and functioning as such which are provided with the corresponding proportion of control, monitoring or regulating units or the sensors and terminals thereof as allocated. These units are manufactured, tested and stored independently of each other. In a second production stage these units are then arranged in a sheet-metal bowl and, in conclusion, provided, independently thereof, with control, input or setting units together with the associated power terminals. This applied, and still applies, in conjunction with the present description both for independent cooktops (drop-in cookers) insertable in the opening of a worktop of an item of kitchen furniture and for the range cooktops of a separate cooking range or cookers mountable individually having several cooking positions, all of which are termed cooktop units in the present context.